Celestial Island
Celestial Island, also known by its French name Île de Celeste is a small sub-Antarctic island in the Northern Perarctic Ocean . Celestial island is an incroporated territory of Sekowan Federal Empire, the Federal Commonwealth of Sekowo at the time. History Celestial island was originally claimed by Sekowo in 2493 as an arctic research base. During the Civil War the station remained unofficially neutral as the population was comprised of scientistsuninterested in the political infighting in Sekowo and being essentially forgotten by the two sides during the course of the war. The island remained mostly the same for the next two centuries seeing only two expansions of the research base and the building of docks and the establishment of a true runway. The island, having previously been an unincorporated, unorganized territory for most of its history became an organized incorporated territory in 2700 following orders from the Department of Internal Affairs worried that its status could be used as an excuse for annexation by unfriendly nations. Geology Celestial island was created as a result of geologic activity of the Celestium ridge, a divergent plate boundary. The island is characterized by a small central mountain in the Central-North surrounded by hills that give way to relatively flat plains in the South-East and to a less er extent in the North-East. As the island lies on a divergent plate boundary it is considered to be center of the creation of two, possibly connected, future continents that will eventually form over millions of years as the island splits and grows West and East. The two future continents 'Celestos' and 'Celestium' are named after the island. Environment Celestial island lies at the Antarctic convergence where the cold southern waters and warmer Northern waters meet, leading to a sub-arctic climate with temperatures ranging from lows of -10 °F (-23 °C) to highs of 40 °F (4 °C) in the summer. Fauna Do to it's location Celestial island is home to numerous permanent and seasonal seabird and marine mammal populations. Mammals Sea Mammals Pinnipeds; * Anarctic Fur Seal (Late fall-Early Spring) * Subantarctic Fur Seal (Mid-Spring-Late Summer) * Bearded Seal (Permanent, non-native) Cetaceans; * Commerson's Dolphin (Permanent) * Southern Right Whale (Permanent) * Pygmy Orca (Semi-permanent) Land Mammals * Reindeer. Between 100-200 Reindeer are kept on the island. Originally part of an exeriment on the viability of Northern Arctic species in Southern Sub-arctic climates, the modern Reindeer population are the descendants of the orginal transplanted Reindeer. The population is kept stable at more than 100 and no more than 300 by a program of immigration between the island and a specially designed reserve in Sekowo allowing for the population to be kept in check while at the same time preserving diversity. * Collared Pika. Between 100-300 Collared Pika's are kept on the island. The Pika's, like Reindeer were originally part of an experiment on species viability, however following the experiment several researchers chose to keep them as pets while the others were released, unlike the Reindeer, which are still part of a long running experiment the Pika's are not subject to special reproductive controls, however do to the islands size and the presence of a partial predator (Cats) the population has stayed at a small size, resulting in the occasional need for more to be imported from Sekowo. * Rats. The exact number of rats living on the island is not know, though estimated to be between 800-1,500. Rats, unlike the other land animals on the island were not transplanted intentionally but rather found their way to the island by stowing away on ships. The rat population is kept in check by the islands Cats. * Cats. The island is home to some 200 Cats. The Cats were brought to the island originally as pets but later were imported as a means of natural pest control to keep the Rat population in check. The cat population is not feral and are kept inside a special biodome during the cold winters to prevent them from freezing. WHile the Cats primarilly only kill rats on occasion they will also kill some of the islands Pika's, a problem do to the species low number. Birds The island is home to several semi-permanent and permanent bird populations. En progressum. Category: Sekowo Category: Territories of Sekowo